Courtesy: Tom NowakThree years after rowing to an NCAA championship in the varsity eight grand final, the eighth-ranked Princeton open crew is ready to make another run at gold. Princeton will compete in its 13th consecutive championship regatta this weekend on Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J.
The NCAA championship regatta is a three-day event that brings together 16 of the top collegiate rowing programs in the country. Each team brings a varsity eight, a second varsity eight and a varsity four; while each specific boat will race for its own championship, the NCAA title is awarded to the school with the best combined finish of the three boats.
Princeton has never won the team title, but it has won two individual championships. The second varsity won gold in 1997, while the first varsity won the 2006 gold by more than six seconds; that margin is the widest in recent championship history.
Each of the three Princeton boats will begin competition Friday morning. The varsity eight will compete in the third heat at 9:15, with the top three finishers moving directly to a Saturday semifinal. Princeton will be in the second lane and will compete against (1) USC, (3) Michigan, (4) Virginia, (5) Clemson and (6) Dartmouth. No. 4 Virginia is the highest-ranked varsity eight in the heat, while Michigan is ranked fifth and defeated Princeton in the season-opening regatta on Lake Carnegie. Princeton is ranked eighth, highest of the remaining four boats. Clemson, USC and Dartmouth are each ranked between 12th and 16th.
If Princeton finishes in the top three, it will move into one of the two Saturday morning semifinals (9 and 9:15); if the Tigers finish fourth or worse, they will need to finish in the top three of a Friday repechage at 3:30 p.m.
The Tiger varsity eight will look to build off the momentum of last weekend's bronze-medal finish at the EAWRC championships, also held on Cooper River. Princeton topped Brown, the 2008 EAWRC champion, in the grand final to hit the medal stand.
The Princeton second eight will compete in the second heat at 9:45 a.m. The Tigers will be in the first lane and will be joined by (from second through fifth) USC, California, Stanford and Yale. A top-three finish would send Princeton to either the 9:30 or 9:45 semifinal on Saturday, while a fourth-or-worse finish would push Princeton into the 3:45 repechage.
The Princeton fours will row in lane five of the first heat (10:15) and will compete against Michigan State, Virginia, Harvard and California. A top-three finish would send Princeton to either the 10 or 10:15
semifinal on Saturday, while a fourth-or-worse finish would push
Princeton into the 4:00 repechage.
